Foreign student raped on Signal Hill

Cape Town - A Norwegian exchange student was raped and her boyfriend tied up by two armed men on Signal Hill early on Saturday, police confirmed on Monday night on enquiry from the Cape Times.

The sixth attack this year on the Table Mountain range, it led to a call from the mountain safety lobby group Table Mountain Watch for police to alert the public so people could be aware of danger.

“The thing we don’t like is police keeping silent if the media or people out there do not report on it.

They must make incidents public so that people can at least be forewarned,” spokesman Andre van Zyl said.

Police spokesman Andre Traut said on Monday night: “It was about 1am. The woman and her boyfriend were in their car when they were approached by two armed men who tied up the woman’s boyfriend. They robbed them of their personal belongings and raped the lady, who is in her twenties.

“They then drove the couple to Camps Bay where they left them in the car.”

He said no arrests had been made and the couple were asked to help formulate identikits of the suspects.

“The lady and the man both received trauma counselling and are being offered support.

“A case of robbery and a case of rape were opened,” Traut said.

Five robberies on Table Mountain have been reported since January.

Van Zyl said although he did not have figures at hand, Saturday’s attack was the first of its kind in about two years.

“There have been other attacks, but on hikers,” he said.

“I have not heard about such an incident for a long time.

“This is a serious incident and very unusual from the break-in of cars now and then,” Van Zyl said.

A city attempt to have the road closed at 10pm had proven unpopular, he said.

“It is a tricky situation because Signal Hill offers such beautiful views,” said Van Wyk.

Table Mountain National Parks (TMNP) spokesperson Merle Collins said they had around-the-clock patrols of the mountain, but night patrol teams were smaller than during the day.

“We were informed of the incident.

“We patrol the wilderness areas – areas that do not have tarred roads. Signal Hill parking area and the road fall under the city,” she said.

aziz.hartley@inl.co.za

Cape Times

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